Barrier walls are commonly formed along one or both sides of highways and other major roads. Barrier walls along roadways reduce noise that nearby residences experience, which might otherwise be disruptive to everyday life. Barrier walls contribute to safety by keeping cars or errant car parts contained within the roadway area. Barrier walls are also used to block certain areas from the public view, such as around power stations and other critical infrastructure.
One method of forming barrier walls uses foam blocks. FIG. 1a illustrates a wall panel 10 that is used to build a barrier wall. Wall panel 10 is a block formed from expanded polystyrene (EPS) or another appropriate foam material. Wall panel 10 is a solid block, and includes foam extending to six externally oriented faces. The faces are oriented substantially perpendicular and parallel to each other to form a box shape. Wall panel 10 includes a length dimension L, a width dimension W, and a height dimension H, as labelled in FIG. 1a. Top and bottom surfaces 12 of wall panel 10 extend along primarily the length and width dimensions. Wall panel 10 includes two side surfaces 14 that extend along primarily the height and length dimensions, and two end surfaces 16 that extend along primarily the height and width dimensions.
One method of forming a barrier wall 18 from wall panels 10 is illustrated in FIG. 1b. Wall panels 10 are stacked between two adjacent vertical I-beam supports 20. The vertical supports 20 are I-beams that include a center web 22 connecting two opposing flanges 24. The combination of web 22 and flanges 24 looks similar to a capital letter ‘I’ when support 20 is viewed from an end, thus the support is commonly referred to as an I-beam. Supports 20 include baseplates 26 welded or otherwise attached at lower ends of the supports. Supports 20 are attached to concrete footings or caissons 30, which are embedded in the ground, through baseplates 26 and bolts 32.
Once supports 20 are securely attached to the ground through footings 30 and baseplates 26, the supports extend vertically from the ground. Adjacent supports 20 are oriented with flanges 24 in parallel to each other so that wall panels 10 can be inserted between the flanges of both support 20a and support 20b simultaneously. A section of barrier wall 18 is completed by stacking any desired number of wall panels 10 between two adjacent supports 20. Any number of wall sections can be formed by using additional supports 20 and disposing additional wall panels 10 between each two adjacent supports.
FIG. 1b illustrates two wall sections, one section is being formed between supports 20a and 20b, with panel 10a disposed on the ground and panel 10b being stacked over panel 10a. Additional panels 10 are stacked to attain the desired barrier wall height. A second wall section has already been formed on the other side of support 20b using panels 10c, 10d, 10e, and 10f. Another support 20 extends from the ground off the page of FIG. 2b, at the opposite end of panels 10c-10f. Barrier wall 18 can be made longer by placing additional supports 20 on either side of the wall and stacking additional wall panels 10 between the open flanges of pillars 20.
Forming barrier wall 18 from foam block wall panels 10 has many advantages over other known types of barrier walls. Wall panels 10 are light and relatively easy to construct a barrier wall from. Wall panel 10 can be fully formed away from the job site, and simply brought in and stacked between supports 20 once formed. However, barrier wall 18 with wall panels 10 also has significant downsides. Foam block wall panels 10 are weak, and not easily able to stop a moving vehicle. Foam block wall panels 10 do not offer sufficient sound dampening capabilities to meet modern standards. In addition, foam block wall panels 10 are not attached to supports 20. If impacted by a vehicle, wall panels 10 may be knocked loose and be a traffic hazard or cause damage and possibly even injury.
Therefore, a need exists for improved foam block wall panels, and a barrier wall made with the same.